Dr. Belcombe confirms that Lister is the perfect tonic for Ann Walker's nervous disorder. When news of a friend's death arrives, Ann's desperate reaction makes Lister suspect that she has secrets of her own.

The show is growing on me, and this episode I really liked Anne's talk with both her sister and her dad when she broached the idea of bringing Ann in as her "companion" and they were both, "cool, it'd be nice to see you settled." I was also really struck by how beautiful and expressive Suranna Jones's face is--sometimes she looked so much younger and more vulnerable than she does when running rings around the Rawsons.

That said, I think I'd also tremendously enjoy a different version of this show that was just Anne Lister, Rent Collector and Crime Solver.posted by TwoStride at 9:21 PM on May 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

I want Lesbian Justice too. I don't really like the Vulture Recaps even tho a fan of Cameron. Just don't go in depth enough for me about the lesbian issues this show brings up. Have I ever seen lesbian justice that is done by a woman like Anne Lister? I don't think so. It's not like Lister is going to be the cliche lesbian serial killer. That could just be my own opinion though as I get a huge delight from watching period drama women shut shit down while being polite.

I love this show. I loved how Anne and Anne's relationship is developing and I was cheering Lister on when she said "no, we can't be friends". She's putting her heart out there. Showing Anne how much it hurts and gut wrenched to think yet again another woman she loves abandons her for a man. When I was a baby butch I remember a few women who I was their experiment and once the fun was over, once I stated what I needed they left. That shit hurts so her writing in her journal "I hardly care at all" was so relatable to me. Once your heart has been rejected over and over again you build up a wall. I just love these authentic displays of a relationship between women.

I did want to just shake Miss Walker and tell her to stop being so nervous but once the truth is revealed it all makes sense and tie in the time period where being "connected" means so much is at stake I thought it was done well. I don't like Walker's outfits at all and I wonder if they are so almost childish to reinforce how the world sees her. You could see such a co-dependant family as all hers seemed to want her to be sicker. They don't know what to do without a sick Anne to take care of and are resentful that she's happier. Another great illustration of how abusive families exist and how some people view trauma victims.

I loved the Rowsen matron actress. Another tough lady. Oh my I'm so enamoured of this show.posted by kanata at 11:45 AM on May 16, 2019 [7 favorites]

Something I noticed about Walker's outfits are that when she's feeling good she wears these big elaborate pink cupcakes and when she's feeling sad she wears blue or neutral (like that subdued mauvish purple one). I like imagining that she's using the available styles to express how she feels because it's one of the few things she has. We're all just doing our best with what's around.posted by bleep at 1:36 PM on May 16, 2019 [3 favorites]

I never thought of that. I'll have to keep an eye out next episode. The scene in York where Lister helps her into the car just made me gah because she looked drowned in all the pink but the idea that she expresses her feelings through colours makes sense and fits her character.posted by kanata at 1:46 PM on May 16, 2019 [1 favorite]

Was pink a feminine coded colour in the 1830s? I've heard it has been masculine on and off over the years, though I guess the costume designers would be taking modern sensibilities into account.posted by rhamphorhynchus at 6:26 AM on May 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

This made me want to read the Wikipedia article about pink and it's pretty interesting, it looks like pink didn't mean anything in particular it just wasn't considered *inappropriate* for boys because men wore red in their army uniforms.posted by bleep at 12:20 PM on May 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

An apocryphal tidbit I've heard about 'pink used to be for boys' goes: Red clothing from all-male military uniforms would fray and fade and be outgrown over time. It would then be taken apart and reconstructed into clothing for younger males. So the father's scarlet 'redcoat' would end up as the son's faded-to-pink jacket. Not sure if true at all, but it's something people say.

I'm also waiting for some MeFite 'Costume Truthers' to come into the GJ posts, because I've been growing suspicious of some of the colors in the fancy gowns. Like that huge mauve dress on Sophie, I was like "C'mon, show!, we're 30 years before the invention of aniline dyes! That color is chemically impossible in 1830!". I would expect a lot more of sister Marian's brown-on-brown outfits on everyone. But maybe I'm wrong.posted by bartleby at 2:41 PM on May 17, 2019 [3 favorites]

This show has been predominantly delightful so far, so I wasn't quite prepared for the way this episode tore me up a little bit. Thoughts:

1. The revelation of Mr. Ainsworth's abuse of Anne Walker casts a new light on her 'nervous hysteria'. I'm not sure of the timeline, but I think this would have been after her brother and parents died. Thinking of how alone she must have felt, and listening to her cry over how desperately she could have used someone like Lister just to talk to, was heart-wrenching.

2. People have rightfully been talking about Suranne Jones as a tour de force performance in this, but I especially enjoyed watching the cracks start to appear in her caddish self-image. It's much easier to be a rake when you are already half-reconciled to the idea that all women will eventually leave you for a respectable marriage anyway - but as we've seen in the very first episode, it doesn't always keep Lister from catching feelings despite herself.

4. Eugénie and Mrs. Cordingly. I love them. I loved their scene. For all that the whole downstairs plot has been revolving around Eugénie's pregnancy, we basically haven't heard anything from her or gotten any glimpse into her interior life, even compared to the limited amount we've seen of the other servants. I get that this is supposed to reinforce the idea that she is an enigma to the rest of the household staff, but still! I'd love for Mrs. Cordingly to teach John a bit of French, and for us to learn more about Eugénie that way.posted by jurymast at 3:58 AM on May 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

I don't get the idea that she's a cad or a rake. All she talks about is wanting to find true love and being upset about having to settle for less.posted by bleep at 12:06 PM on May 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

I've been growing suspicious of some of the colors in the fancy gowns.

Not really equipped to be full #costumetruther for this, because back in the day, I was focused on late-Georgian/Age of Sail military clothing which is about 30 years before this, but seconding that it has to be a deliberate anachronism to use colors specifically associated with aniline dyes for the costuming. That indigo! That mauve! They're coal-derived, and this is clearly a coal-producing area, so maybe the idea is that it's a ~~~ little joke for those nerdy enough to care?

For a little more context on aniline dyes, and why their invention was a watershed in textile history, here this is a good, accessible overview. This has some examples of the aniline plaids that were popular for respectable ladies who nevertheless wanted to flash out, and which is why I CHOKED ON MY NERDY TEA when I saw Marianne nbd wearing one, but also now retrospectively love it because if this show were 30 years later, that is legit what she would wear.

(I think about how excited I was a couple years ago when electric blue came back in a big way, and then I think about how I would have LOST MY EVERLOVING SHIT if I'd just been wearing drab brown and gray for everyday with one nicer single-color slightly-less-drab dress or whatever for church, and all of a sudden aniline mauve and indigo and plaid exploded into my life.)

Two other notes that somebody more knowledgeable may correct me on:

- In England in the 1830's, the clubbed and powdered hair you see on the footmen in some scenes would've been deeply anachronistic even in a more provincial areas like this, almost like somebody wearing an Abe Lincoln-style stovepipe in 1950's America.